By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
Off the rugby paddock the Toa Samoa is the much bigger winner.
A nation of people showed THAT day after day, flying flags and making earsplitting noises on the town streets and in the villages.
The closest Samoa came to this kind of fanatical show of support was when the Manu Samoa upset Wales in the 1991 World Rugby Union Cup.
The Toa Samoa made Samoans in Samoa and everywhere else proud to be Samoan.
Our rugby league champions took it to another level when their success united the region of neighbouring island nations into one with their cheering support – New Zealand and even Australia included.
No other sport has ever united the region like our Samoan rugby league heroes.
This is a much bigger scale of achievement than any other. Beyond our Samoan pride as well.
It brings out and builds on the unity of island nations merging into a family of people related through social and economic connections.
The best and simple examples are Toa Samoa players themselves Most if not all live and are raised outside Samoa, some are married to non-Samoans who are either ‘palagis’, Tongans or other regional citizens.
When the team carried the Samoan flag onto the Old Trafford grounds, it was not just Samoa they were representing but their loved ones who were ‘palagis’, Tongans and all the others.
This is the wider regional nationality that the Toa Samoa represented and forged by their heroic deeds into a legitimate and equally proud identity.
This represents the bigger picture of the Toa Samoa triumph.
Another huge influence of the Toa Samoa success is on the Rugby League code in Samoa and other non-playing countries in the region.
Arguably 90 per cent of Samoans watching the live coverage of the Cup final in the early hours of Sunday morning had no idea what the rules were.
As a country mad on rugby union and the Manu Samoa, many had to adjust to the stop start way rugby league is played as they watched.
But it was unlikely to have been much of a bother with the excitement of cheering for the Toa Samoa.
The international promoters of the sport would do well to step up whatever efforts they have to grow rugby league in Samoa in a ‘strike while the iron is hot’ move.
Do the same to other islands in the region for that matter.
As we move along, thoughts of ‘do unto others as you want done unto you….’ philosophy of fairness and justice, is knocking on the door of… ‘doing unto our Toa Samoa as they had done unto us.’
Where are we in that respect, Government of the People of Samoa?
The Ruby League patron, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, is hopeful the team will be rewarded a million tala with a one day holiday in a ‘thank you gesture’ for their heroism.
The money should be extracted from the balance of the first one million tala already budgeted for the electoral constituencies yet only $200,000 have been handed out.
Why not? Wise choice that should be taken seriously.
Maybe it will help restore some credibility or win forgiveness for the mouth-watering election promises behind voter complaints of being made fools of to win their vote.
The Australian Kangaroos are the World Champions of Rugby League and fully deserve to be congratulated.
They were the better team on the paddock and on the day.
We would have loved our Toa Samoa to be in a ‘happily ever’ after fairytale ending but they will have learnt much from the experience.
Live to fight another day! Not a bad way to start our next fairy tale run.
O Ai Le Toa?